While fans of the series will have been a little disappointed that Fox cut it in favour of shows ofa lower quality, TBS‘s pick-up and now efforts towards marketing animated comedy American Dad! is one that has generated some excitement ahead of its 12th season.

Following Fox’s contract expiry after a three-episode miniature 11th season this September, TBS have picked up full rights to the show and gone all-out with promotions and imagery ahead of their first season as broadcasters, even co-inciding with an Adidas tennis shoe deal.

With a season premiere date scheduled for Monday 20 October, it seems as though the cable network had one other major surprise in store before the first episode… the first episode.

The installment, known as “Blonde Ambition”, surprisingly emerged through the network’s Facebook and Twitter feeds, and on Sunday 12 October on YouTube, with little reasoning given by TBS as to why they have done this.

Fans of the show, particularly those that have no cable access but do have an internet signal, won’t mind at all, though, at the bonus free-to-access episode, with some of the belief that it is merely to further generate publicity ahead of the new season.

TBS, TNT & Turner Classic Movies’ ‘senior vice president of entertainment branding & marketing’ Tricia Melton said as much when she announced the move earlier this month, stating: “This sneak peek is a wonderful way to reward the nearly 20 million fans of American Dad! on Facebook and Twitter for their longtime devotion to the series. It’s also a great way to build up the excitement for the show in its new home on TBS.”

The episode itself (pictured above, viewable below) sees the character of Haley Smith dye her hair blonde to try and attract more attention for her environmentalist causes, while her father and brother Stan and Steve look into moving to a gated community, but end up trapped in a display house by vicious guard dogs.

Though it is yet to be seen if TBS will continue their YouTube screenings in a more post-broadcast on-demand approach, the show appears to have found a more welcoming home that also allows it to go a little further on account of being cable, but will their positive first impression be the start of a long and fruitful run, or is showcasing their content for free (as demonstrated below) something that will put them right into the financial danger zone?

Finally joining the other major networks in the USA in having such a service, cable TV station USA Network have launched an official catch-up TV service called ‘TV Everywhere’, a new platform which includes iOS app ‘USA Now’.

Billed as the first cable network in the ‘NBCUniversal family’ to have launched such a service, USA Network are promoting all the usual catch-up features on Everywhere and Now, with the brand expanding from USA’s former connected device presence ‘USA Anywhere’, a purely ‘second screen’ offering for content such as Burn Notice and Graceland.

Now though, the service (which has also been referred to by Apple (erroneously) as ‘USA Anywhere Plus’) will offer on-demand versions of content a day after they broadcast on the network, as well as extensive archives of select programming. It is a requirement for the app, however, like all pay-tv on-demand services, that a user log in with their account details with their TV providers, of which Cablevision, Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network, FiOS, and Time Warner Cable have so far agreed to participate in.

Having already released on the Apple iOS and planned for a roll-out on Android later this month, it is estimated that half of USA Network’s 99 million households subscription will soon have an additional means to consume the content. While this is considered the ‘first phase’ of app expansion, the ‘second phase’ will feature ‘personalisation and gamification’ elements such as new content alerts and recommendations to go with the regular second-screen and catch-up features (now) already in place.

USA Network’s co-president Jeff Wachtel said of the reasoning behind the launch: “We know many of today’s viewers live in a time-shifted world and are consuming content on multiple screens. TV Everywhere allows us to cater to this audience.”

Fellow co-president Chris McCumber added: “Making our original series more accessible on digital platforms is a key driver of audience growth, and allows fans to interact with our content on an even deeper level.”

Linda Yaccarino, the ‘president of advertising & sales’ at NBCUniversal, summarised: “Through our commitment to bringing viewers TV Everywhere from across our portfolio of networks, advertisers are going to have so many more places to showcase their brands and products to a highly engaged, digital audience. USA Now means more access to USA’s valuable consumers who are taking every advantage of second screen viewing, providing increased reach opportunities for all our advertising partners.”

NBCUniversal are also believed to be planning similar app releases for networks such as Syfy and Telemundo, depending on the popularity of their USA Network version. Having just completed a 28th consecutive quarter as ‘highest-rated cable network’, however, the likely success of ‘TV Everywhere’ might not be an accurate barometer for the lower end of the companies scale of channels…

USA NETWORK LAUNCHES TV EVERYWHERE AS PART OF LARGER COMPANY ROLL-OUT ACROSS NBCUNIVERSAL

USA Unveils TVE On Its Site, As Well As On New App “USA Now” On iOS, And Available On Android In July

NEW YORK – July 3, 2013 – USA Network announced today the launch of TV Everywhere, giving fans unprecedented access to its original content the day after air – anywhere, anytime, on any device. USA is the first cable entertainment network within NBCUniversal to provide this offering, which marks an important step in the company’s long-term strategy to provide both viewers and marketers a user friendly way to engage with its content on multiple platforms. USA fans will be able to access their favorite original series via www.usanetwork.com and a new app, “USA Now,” which derives its name from the Bravo Now app. Launching today for iOS, “USA Now” will be available in an Android version in mid-July.

“We know many of today’s viewers live in a time-shifted world and are consuming content on multiple screens. TV Everywhere allows us to cater to this audience,” said Chris McCumber, Co-President of USA Network. “Making our original series more accessible on digital platforms is a key driver of audience growth, and allows fans to interact with our content on an even deeper level,” said Jeff Wachtel, Co-President, USA Network.

USA’s TV Everywhere will include a powerful offering of streamed episodes, along with second screen experiences, infused with social networking opportunities. Fans will be able to watch episodes from the network’s portfolio of hit originals, including GRACELAND, SUITS, Burn Notice and PSYCH. The second phase of USA’s TV Everywhere roll-out will incorporate additional second screen capabilities, such as personalization and more gamification elements. Viewers will receive show recommendations based on their viewing habits, and have the ability to sign-up for alerts on the latest updates about newly available content and social activations.

“Through our commitment to bringing viewers TV Everywhere from across our portfolio of networks, advertisers are going to have so many more places to showcase their brands and products to a highly engaged, digital audience,” said Linda Yaccarino, President, Advertising Sales, NBCUniversal. “USA Now means more access to USA’s valuable consumers who are taking every advantage of second screen viewing, providing increased reach opportunities for all our advertising partners.”

TV Everywhere is available on an authenticated basis to subscribers of participating MVPDs. Fans can access long-form content through USA Network digital touchpoints on PCs, mobile devices, tablets and on the digital platforms of participating cable, satellite, and telco services, via “TV Everywhere,” including, Armstrong, Cablevision’s Optimum TV, DISH Network, Mediacom, Suddenlink, and Verizon FiOS. Once the Android app launches in mid-July, “USA Now” will be available to approximately 50% of the Pay TV households. The network expects to add Comcast and other MVPDs in the coming weeks.

Earlier this year during Upfronts, USA unveiled an innovative web design to unify the viewing experience – both visually & functionally. The network also launched “USA Sync,” which syndicates content to over 95 million users across the web, mobile and social channels, as well as leading second screen apps, including Shazam, Viggle, zeebox, and NextGuide.

Committed to giving fans fun digital entertainment, USA has launched second screen activations across all its original programs, including Emmy-nominated PSYCH: HashTag Killer, the award winning graphic novel series Burn Notice: A New Day, and most recently, GRACELAND: Undercover and Necessary Roughness: TK Gets Real.

USA partnered with Bottle Rocket Apps, which specializes in building custom, high-end mobile apps, to design “USA Now,” for iOS and Android.

The #1 network in all of basic cable for an unprecedented seven straight years, USA Network is seen in over 102 million U.S. homes. USA is a leader in scripted programming with a powerful stable of originals, spectacular live television and is home to the best in blockbuster theatrical films, a broad portfolio of acquired series and entertainment events. A trailblazer in digital innovation and storytelling, USA is defining, driving and setting the industry standard for Social TV. The network has garnered an Emmy nomination for its fan favorite Psych: HashTag Killer along with multiple Shortys and an Advertising Age Vanguard Media award. USA is a program service of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal. The award-winning website is located at http://www.usanetwork.com with social touchpoints on Facebook and Twitter. Characters Welcome.

TV Guides IrelandYahoo, On the Box and RTE guide included in this selection for Irish viewers

We will be constantly adding new sites and if you know of any good ones, let us know. More TV guides for other Countries around the world will be added shortly too, so if yours is not there yet then dont fret.

Now i am sure everyone has seen out tv listings pages and if you havent you should be ashamed of yourself, but we have now updated and revised our tv listings site to give you a more detailed set of whats happening on TV tonight.

Although many people now have EPG (Electronic program guides) that seem to negate the need for TV guides, however they dont show all programming available and there are (astoundingly) still plenty of people without digital or satellite tv and how are they going to plan this evenings entertainment? Now for you guys, these guides are gold dust. How can you live not knowing whats on your tv tonight.

Most of these guides just need a zip code to laser target your local listings and most show every channel available. Cable/Satellite and terrestrial

Yahoo TV This is a great guide from the ever popular Yahoo. TV listings can be searched locally, just input your ZIP code and view the upcoming programs from your local TV channels and cable/satellite.

Excite TV guide. Just get that zip code out and select either local, cable or satellite for detailed TV listings. You can even search by star names and show or series titles.

OnSat A great satellite listings guide coming to you from the owners of TV mags OnSat and Satellite Times and showing by time zones C-Band, 4DTV, Directv and the Dish Network.

Titan TV
TV scheduling for America needing that good ol Zip code giving you access to local, cable and satellite listings that are receiveable by you. You are also able to view out of area FTA satellite TV stations.